Two Canadian teens who were arrested in December and February planned to bomb a pro-Israel rally at Ottawa’s Parliament Hill, court documents obtained by Global News showed on Tuesday.
The suspects, whom Canadian police have identified only as “young persons,” are “alleged to have formed a plan last fall to violently attack Jewish persons in Ottawa, possibly through the detonation of an explosive device at a pro-Israel rally,” the Department of Justice said.
The assertion that a pro-Israel demonstration was the target of the thwarted terror attack appeared in an application by federal lawyers to withhold sensitive national security information from the criminal trials.
One accused is being charged with possessing acetone, oxidizer and metal ball bearings. All are possible components of homemade bombs.
According to the government’s Integrated Terrorism Assessment Centre, the plot was allegedly linked to ISIS, also known by the Arabic acronym Daesh, and was “possibly accelerated” by Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attacks.
“At least one of the individuals was reportedly in contact with DAESH overseas and the arrests occurred during a period of DAESH calls to violence in response to the conflict,” the agency wrote.
The first suspect was arrested on Dec. 15 and charged with conspiracy to murder and “communicating instructional material related to an explosive substance.” Prosecutors also charged him with recruiting a second suspect to “carry out a terrorist activity against Jewish persons.”
Following his arrest, the suspect’s Iraqi father claimed to Global News that he had warned the teen to steer away from “any extremist person” and had ordered him to speak with an imam. However, posts on the father’s Facebook profile incited violence against Jews and Israelis.
On Feb. 15, his alleged co-conspirator was arrested and subsequently charged with three terrorism offenses, including agreeing to carry out murder, facilitating terror and trying to purchase a prohibited firearm.
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs told Global News on Tuesday that it was unaware a pro-Israel rally may have been the plot’s target. CIJA was one of the organizations behind a protest on Dec. 4 at Parliament Hill under the slogan, “Canada’s Rally for the Jewish People.”
“It doesn’t come as a surprise,” said Shimon Koffler Fogel, president of CIJA, noting that the thwarted attack is “consistent with what we have seen across the country, where the violent and radicalized protests that have manifested themselves on our streets are losing all constraints in terms of how far they are prepared to go in order to advance their position.”
According to Koffler Fogel, Canadian law enforcement “are not taking all the steps necessary, they are not using the provisions of the Criminal Code in ways that are going to offer protection to those who are at risk.
“And equally important, they are not signaling to those who are advancing this toxic and violent manifestation of hate that in Canada, there is no room for that kind of exhibit,” the Jewish leader said.
Data released by Canadian police earlier this year revealed a surge of antisemitism in the country in 2023, with anti-Jewish hatred now accounting for most of the hate crimes against any group.
Police reported 900 hate crimes against Jews last year, equating to a 71% increase from 2022 and a 172% increase since 2020. Jews also accounted for 70% of religiously motivated hate crimes, with four times as many compared to those targeting Muslims.
